Page 194 of The Champion
“It will be okay Jameson.” It was the only answer I hadfor him.
“You say that now, but, I can’t say the same.” Thesadness swirled with the green and almost took my breath away.
He’d just lost friends of his and I couldn’t blame himfor feeling this way.
“Your friends, your team, they would want you to be thechampion you’ve always been. They would want you to be strong.”
Jameson didn’t answer right away, just stared, and fearprickled my skin, his silence only scared me.
“I don’t know,” he finally replied slowly, his voiceechoed throughout the room.
Later that night, Alley showed up and we went over thepress conference that was set for ten the next morning where Jameson, Jimi,Tate and Bobby were requested to speak.
With something so tragic, they wanted answers.
“I don’t know what to say to them.” Jameson said sittinginside the small conference room we had at the sprint car shop. ThankfullyJameson hadn’t touched this room in his earlier rage.
Alley sighed reaching for his hand across the table. “Iknow it will be hard Jameson but I think out of anyone right now, you will knowwhat to say.”
Alley was absolutely right. She knew that when pressuredfor words, Jameson knew what to say, he always did. He could respond regardlessof the circumstances. He might not always say what others wanted him to say buthe spoke the truth and he spoke from his heart.
Poppet - Jameson
It was times like this when the truth behind what youknow and what you feel give way and you’re left with what you need. What youneed to say. What you need to feel. And more importantly what you need tobelieve.
There’s also a point when you say I’ve had enough. Enoughpain, enough sadness and enough loss.
The morning brought with it grief and regret for whathappened, but also answers as to what might have gone wrong.
My private jet that was carrying twelve passengers andtwo pilots crashed outside Eldora in Lancaster Ohio. Other than thatinformation right there, I didn’t pay much attention to the news report becauseI knew each and every person on that was on that plane. More importantly, Iknew each one personally. I’m not going to say I didn’t feel regret because Idid. I felt more regret than I should have.
It was times like this that you look at yourself, yourlife, your family and wonder why.
Why them, why us, why you, why not him?
You look at everyone and anything for an answer that willnever come.
I’m not sure whether I believed in God or whether Ididn’t. But at times like this, I wondered who made the decisions for us. Whotook lives and left others to face the unknown and life without them. Iwondered why.
Everyone on that plane had a family. They had loved ones;wives, kids, aunts, uncles and they had someone who hung on their every wordand maybe even someone who hated them. My point was that they had someonegrieving their death and asking that very same question I had.
Why?
My wife—my wonderful understanding and supportivewife—stood beside me, watching the crowd gather. Each one of them was askingthemselves what I couldn’t answer.
Why?
Racers like me are used to deciding their own fate on atrack. That’s not to say outside factors don’t play a role, but usually, yourdestiny, which is dependent on the outcome of a race, is held in your hands.
As a racer, your home is the track. It’s where your lovefor racing is formed and where you cultivate it into something great. It’swhere nothing else matters but the dedication, passion, confidence, andambition. These were the only traits that I believed set a racer apart fromothers. Until today.
Patrick Maddens, CEO of NASCAR, took the podium first andexplained the details surrounding the crash. Through it all, Sway held my hand.
“The King Air jet of NASCAR Cup driver Jameson Riley,took off from Charlotte North Carolina at 9 am, eastern time, carrying fourteenpassengers. Among those were several NASCAR drivers including Sprint Cupdrivers Andy Crockett and Colin Shuman, Nationwide drivers Kevin Millan andJack Burwell, and Camping World Truck drivers Stacy Ewing, Terry Williams, andCarl Baker. Other members on the plane were Gentry Wade, crew member forJameson Riley. Ethan Norton, back-up spotter and driver of the number ninetransporter for Riley Racing. Jeb Erickson, spotter for Bobby Cole. Cal Porter,team member and driver of Jameson Riley’s personal motor coach, and pilots WesTurner for Riley Racing and driver of the No. 9 Simplex Ford Jameson Riley andDavid Cates, pilot for the Leddy Motorsports.
“The plane was in route to Eldora Speedway where SimplexShocks and Springs was holding a drivers challenge among NASCAR Sprint Cup,Outlaw, and racers in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series. The planepiloted by Wes Turner and David Cates, was reported missing at 9:36 am. Afteran extensive search by a ground team, the wreckage of the plane was found. Itwas reported that no one on board survived.” Patrick looked into the crowd ofreporters and closed his eyes for a brief moment. “NASCAR asks that you keepthose affected in your thoughts and prayers and respectfully requests thatprivacy be considered throughout this difficult time.”
That’s when Patrick looked to me and every eye shifted fromhim, to me.
